From Keble: And you would do well to remember that not all that appears in the lives of the saints is commendable. Perhaps you should greet these heretics with a right hook, in the manner of St. Nicholas. Polycarp sinned gravely in the example you cite, because he in essence stated that Marcion was not worth saving.
I disagree.
Remember Jesus' own words to Peter when He said to him, "Get thee behind me, Satan!"
Perhaps St. Polycarp was trying to make Marcion realize the extremity of his heresy.
Extending him the right hand of fellowship and calling him "brother" would have only convinced Marcion that his views were somehow "Christian."
Discussions of "sacraments" versus ordinances stumble across two problems. First, you cannot very well deny that the Eucharist is an ordinance, because we are commanded to do it. And as far as "sacrament" is concerned, only polity evokes as wide a range of opinions. You can find every gradation of opinion on sacraments from strict memorialists to high-and-dry Anglicans who hold a higher theology of the sacrament than you do.
It is impossible to hold a "higher theology" of the "the sacrament" (I assume you mean the Eucharist; there are, after all, many sacraments) than that held by the Orthodox Church.
Opinions are nothing. Only the Apostolic Tradition matters when it comes to the sacraments.
Protestantism is all about opinions. Christianity is about Christ and what He taught.
I do deny that the Eucharist is the mere empty
ordinance most Protestants think it is.
From Keble: I have to say that posting pointers to anti-fundamentalist Catholic tracts in a evangelical- or fundamentalist-dominated forum is an act of aggression. It's more or less a proclamation that you're going to talk down to them and not listen to their replies.
I would say that you should wait until you know what you're talking about before expressing your opinions.
I recommended two
books by well-respected Roman Catholic authors to an OP who had already said that he was
Roman Catholic and had asked for such recommendations.
Besides that, how is recommending books "talking down" to someone? They do not have to read them if they do not want to.
Am I the only one who seems to recognize in the posts of "Keble" the distinctive style of Abdur?I thought you had finally become a convinced Muslim. Why the continued visits to an Orthodox Christian forum?
Starting an internet
jihad?